Blog survey results!

It’s hard for me to even believe this, but I’ve been writing Pseudoplocephalus for over 5 years now. I’d been an avid reader of many science blogs for a couple of years before I decided I wanted to try it out myself, and I decided to jump in finally because I was going to be spending three and a half months working and traveling around Korea, China and Mongolia back in 2010 on an NSERC-funded study abroad kind of thing. I figured that blog updates would be the best way to show what I was doing to friends and family, and if I liked it, I’d maybe keep writing about my research afterwards.

As I started writing here, I decided pretty quickly that I wanted to use Pseudoplocephalus as a science outreach tool (as opposed to keeping a grad school diary for my own benefits, etc.). At this point, my general goals with the blog are:

1. Providing summaries of my research papers for nonspecialists, especially for papers that are paywalled.

2.Showing what it’s like to be a research palaeontologist, for people who aren’t scientists. (And, to be visibly female while doing so.)

3.Promoting the research environments of the various institutions I’ve worked at, to help increase the public’s appreciation of research in museums and universities.

4.Talking about other issues of interest to me, like where palaeontology intersects with popular media and social justice issues. For this goal, I’m interested in reaching both scientists and nonscientists.

So, am I accomplishing any of those goals? I took part in Paige Jarreau‘s science blog survey and some of you were kind enough to fill out the survey, so here’s a little bit of what I learned and how it relates to what I’m doing.

How are people finding my blog?

At least in terms of the people who answered the survey, most people seem to get to my blog via Facebook and Twitter, as well as the blogrolls of other palaeontology sites. But, about 20% of the respondents had only read one or two posts on my blog, suggesting that a fair number of people stumble across it without necessarily being deeply embedded within the palaeoblogosphere. Most of the survey respondents said they often seek out information about science online, and nobody said they rarely or never seek it out. Apparently, several of you were motivated to keep reading because you like my writing style, so thanks! That is nice of you to say!

How are people using my blog?

Many of the survey respondents read Pseudoplocephalus to keep up with the latest palaeo news and to find information that might not be reported in traditional media, so, cool. A bunch of you also wrote in that you come here to learn about ankylosaurs, so yay! Most of you do not come here for emotional support, which is also good, because ankylosaurs are terrible emotional support-givers. I recommend you check out Captain Awkward for the top-shelf adulting advice. Overall, I’d say the way people seem to be using my blog is in line with why I’m writing what I write.

Who are you people, anyway?

Several of the survey respondents noted that they know me personally. I AM BEING WATCHED, THANKS ANONYMOUS FRIENDS FOR CREEPIN’ ME OUT. But seriously, that’s not unexpected, and thanks creepy anonymous friends for filling out my survey. Out of the 102 people who filled out the survey, 67% identified as male and 31% identified as female. The biggest age cohort is YOUNGER THAN ME which is giving me SOME KIND OF FEELINGS. Most of you are also Caucasian, which means I need to do a better job of reaching out to non-white people or making my blog an inviting space for underrepresented minorities in science to come and have a look. I am not totally sure how to do this, so I guess I have some research ahead of me!

I am also apparently in good blog company because lots of you guys read blogs that I also like to read too, like Tetrapod Zoology, SV-POW, Laelaps, and Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs. In that same question (list up to three other science blogs that you read regularly), I noticed that blogs written by dudes far, far outnumbered blogs written by ladies in the blogs you submitted. Does this indicate that there are fewer blogs written by women in the palaeoblogosphere (or at least dinoblogosphere)? Are people more likely to think more highly of blogs written by men than women, or just more likely to remember blogs written by men?

Lastly, it was interesting to see the self-identified occupations you all listed – while it is not surprising that many of you are grad students, palaeontologists, or other scientists, it was heartening for me to see that non-scientists are also reading the blog, at least sometimes. Another goal kind of accomplished!

So, am I meeting any of the general goals I keep in mind when I’m writing here? Kind of. At least in terms of people who felt compelled to complete the survey, I’m largely speaking to an audience of scientific peers. BUT, I’m also reaching at least a few people who are not trained scientists, and I suspect a lot more of the casual hits my blog receives each day are not from dedicated scientists. Thanks again to everyone who participated in the survey – many of you left awfully nice comments for me, which really made me feel like this continues to be worth doing, so thanks for the ego boost. It’s been interesting to see who this blog is reaching and why people are reading it! I don’t know how long I’ll keep this blog going, but I don’t have any intention of stopping soon and I’m glad I have an audience of people who think it’s worth following.

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6 thoughts on “Blog survey results!”

Since you mentioned them, I consider your blog about on level with SV-POW, TetZoo, Laelaps, and LITC. I say this not to butter you up, but to provide some context on the non-white-male question. The only other paleoblogs I'm personally aware of that are written by women are Things With Feathers & Mary Anning's Revenge (both of whom I'd put on the same aforementioned tier as well). Furthermore, I'm completely unaware of any paleoblogs written by minorities. (Does non-English-language count? I sometimes read Theropoda, but I'm lazy, and the Google translate feature is just clunky enough that it gets tiring after a while, so I don't check it as often as I should.)If you know of any other interesting blogs written by either women or minorities, I'd happily add them to my reading list and boost their traffic!I suppose it's a citation thing. The more I see other blogs referenced by my preferred sites, the more likely I am to add them to my daily reading.

I know of a handful of other female palaeo bloggers – Lisa Buckley blogs at what used to be Shaman of the Atheistic Sciences and is now Strange Woman Standing in Mud, Looking at Birds (note to self: update blogroll!), and Liz Martin blogs at Musings of a Clumsy Palaeontologist. A few of my other female friends have dabbled with blogs but haven't kept them up for years at a time. I am sure there are others as well, so maybe if people know about some interesting blogs I have missed they can mention them in the comments here and I can add them to my blogroll!

OMG, that Woofen Poof article, hahaha! I think I've found a new favorite. Also, since I'm reading about early US paleotology, Buckley's blog title reminds me of Ferdinand Hayden's Indian name: “He Who Picks Up Stones While Running”.

“Musings” looks right up my alley as well. THanks for the suggestions!

Glad the results have been so interesting. I took the survey, but limited to only three favorites, I may have left out all the female-written blogs mentioned here in the comments. Because it so happens that I read all of them as well! Do you think the results may have been male-skewed by the limitation imposed?

I'm one of those non-scientists you mentioned, female to boot, and I love especially love reading blogs by women in science. I'm pushing 60 and things were different back in the olden days. Yay for progress!